A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Memo to the President

Depression era breadline in front of a billboarddepicting a lifestyle unattainable for many

We are about 2 weeks away from something called the
sequester. This is a law passed by congress to ensure that congress balance the federal budget by threatening major indiscriminate deep cuts
on all government programs across the board – including defense.

Balancing the budget
means that no more money is spent by the government than it takes in. If there
is no action by congress along those lines the government can ‘borrow’ the money
by raising the debt ceiling or by selling bonds to foreign governments like China.
Meaning it can just print more money and ‘owe itself or China’ the money to pay
be paid back with future revenue increasing our debt exponentially as we
continue to have to ‘borrow’ to meet government expenditures because of an
unbalanced budget.

Although I hope I’m wrong - it seems like the sequester will
happen. That is not a good thing. There is no way of telling what the exact
impact will be. But I don’t think it is
rocket science to realize that when there are automatic deep budget cuts across the
board to all government programs – including the military - not to mention
entitlement programs like welfare, workfare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,
and farm subsidies; …that people will
suffer.

No doubt food prices will increase; joblessness will
increase; government revenue from taxes will decrease and taxes will increase to
try and offset that; there will be less money for anyone to spend; consumer
demand will decrease; production will decrease; more jobs will be lost; the
market will crash; retirement funds heavily invested in the market will no
longer be able to help support the elderly; social security will decrease;
Medicare and Medicaid payments will decrease, the ill will suffer; our national defense will suffer; and who knows what else… In short it’s not a pretty
picture, no matter how you paint it.

The fault lies with both the executive and legislative
branches of government. Neither wants to budge from their ideological
positions. Congressional Republicans will never agree to any deal that does not
include a reduction in government spending. The President refuses any further cuts
the budget which will surely increase the deficit. He feels obligated to
protect entitlements to the wealthy and the poor.

The problem with his position is that if the government keeps
printing money, it will become devalued. In a world based economy this will surely
cause unprecedented inflation. We may end up with a simultaneous depression and
inflation… who knows.

The President has thrown down the gauntlet. He says that if
congress doesn’t act blame for the sequester will be their fault.

Perhaps. But history will not be kind to the President. If
the worst happens, it will be under his watch. History will record that
whatever catastrophic economic event happens under his watch will be his fault.
And he may go down as the worst President in American history, despite his good
intentions.

It is true that the public blames both sides but see the Republicans
haqving greater fault I this. I see it as two stubborn sides that consider
their own liberal or conservative principles having greater value that saving
the country from financial ruin. I really don’t know what they are thinking.

But whatever the truth is about whose fault it is, history
will record that the Obama Presidency will be the worst failure since that of
Herbert Hoover.

Somebody better blink in this game of chicken. I don’t care who it is at this point. But if
the President wants to have any kind of decent legacy he ought to make sure
someone does.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelors Degree - majoring in Psychology.